[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6943 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6943
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 19 (legislative day, May 17), 2022
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
authorize public safety officer death benefits to officers suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Safety Officer Support Act of
2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Every day, public safety officers, including police
officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and
others, work to maintain the safety, health, and well-being of
the communities they serve.
(2) This means public safety officers are routinely called
to respond to stressful and potentially traumatic situations,
often putting their own lives in danger.
(3) This work not only puts public safety officers at-risk
for experiencing harm, serious injury, and cumulative and acute
trauma, but also places them at up to 25.6 times higher risk
for developing post-traumatic stress disorder when compared to
individuals without such experiences.
(4) Psychological evidence indicates that law enforcement
officers experience significant job-related stressors and
exposures that may confer increased risk for mental health
morbidities (such as post-traumatic stress disorder and
suicidal thoughts, ideation, intents, and behaviors) and
hastened mortality.
(5) Public safety officers often do not have the resources
or support they need, leaving them at higher risk for long-term
mental health consequences.
(6) Whereas, although the Department of Defense already
considers servicemember suicides to be line-of-duty deaths and
provides Federal support to eligible surviving families, the
Federal Government does not recognize public safety officer
suicides as deaths in the line of duty.
(7) In 2017, the Department of Justice approved 481 claims
under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program under
subpart 1 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281 et seq.), but not one
of them for the more than 240 public safety officers who died
by suicide that year.
(8) Public safety officers who have died or are disabled as
a result of suicide or post-traumatic stress disorder do not
qualify for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program,
despite the fact that public safety officers are more likely to
die by suicide than from any other line-of-duty cause of death.
SEC. 3. PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS
DISORDER, ACUTE STRESS DISORDER, OR TRAUMA AND STRESS
RELATED DISORDERS.
(a) In General.--Section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(o) Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder, or
Trauma and Stress Related Disorders.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this section:
``(A) Mass casualty event.--The term `mass casualty
event' means an incident resulting in casualties to not
fewer than 3 victims, including--
``(i) an incident that exceeds the normal
resources for emergency response available in
the jurisdiction where the incident takes
place; and
``(ii) an incident that results in a sudden
and timely surge of injured individuals
necessitating emergency services.
``(B) Mass fatality event.--The term `mass fatality
event' means an incident resulting in the fatalities of
not fewer than 3 individuals at 1 or more locations
close to one another with a common cause.
``(C) Mass shooting.--The term `mass shooting'
means a multiple homicide incident in which not fewer
than 3 victims are killed--
``(i) with a firearm;
``(ii) during one event; and
``(iii) in one or more locations in close
proximity.
``(D) Exposed.--The term `exposed' includes--
``(i) directly experiencing or witnessing
an event; or
``(ii) being subjected, in an intense way,
to aversive consequences of the event
(including a public safety officer collecting
human remains).
``(E) Traumatic event.--The term `traumatic event'
means, in the case of a public safety officer exposed
to an event, an event that is--
``(i) a homicide, suicide, or the violent
or gruesome death of another individual
(including such a death resulting from a mass
casualty event, mass fatality event, or mass
shooting);
``(ii) a harrowing circumstance posing an
extraordinary and significant danger or threat
to the life of or of serious bodily harm to any
individual (including such a circumstance as a
mass casualty event, mass fatality event, or
mass shooting); or
``(iii) an act of criminal sexual violence
committed against any individual.
``(2) Personal injury sustained in line of duty.--As
determined by the Bureau--
``(A) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress
disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders
suffered by a public safety officer and diagnosed by a
licensed medical or mental health professional, shall
be presumed to constitute a personal injury within the
meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of
duty by the officer, if the officer was exposed, while
on duty, to one or more traumatic events and such
exposure was a substantial factor in the disorder;
``(B) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress
disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders,
suffered by a public safety officer who has contacted
or attempted to contact the employee assistance program
of the agency or entity that the officer serves, a
licensed medical or mental health professional, suicide
prevention services, or another mental health
assistance service in order to receive help, treatment,
or diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder or
acute stress disorder, shall be presumed to constitute
a personal injury within the meaning of subsection (a),
sustained in the line of duty by the officer, if the
officer, was exposed, while on duty, to one or more
traumatic events and such exposure was a substantial
factor in the disorder; and
``(C) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress
disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders,
suffered by a public safety officer who was exposed,
while on duty, to one or more traumatic events shall be
presumed to constitute a personal injury within the
meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of
duty by the officer if such exposure was a substantial
factor in the disorder.
``(3) Presumption of death or total disability.--A public
safety officer shall be presumed to have died or become
permanently and totally disabled (within the meaning of
subsection (a) or (b)) as the direct and proximate result of a
personal injury sustained in the line of duty, if (as
determined by the Bureau) the officer either--
``(A) took an action, which action was intended to
bring about the officer's death and directly and
proximately resulted in such officer's death or
permanent and total disability and exposure, while on
duty, to one or more traumatic events was a substantial
factor in the action taken by the officer; or
``(B) took an action within 45 days of the end of
exposure, while on duty, to a traumatic event, which
action was intended to bring about the officer's death
and directly and proximately resulted in such officer's
death or permanent and total disability, if such action
was not inconsistent with a psychiatric disorder.
``(4) Applicability of limitations on benefits.--
``(A) Intentional actions.--Section 1202(a)(1)
shall not apply to any claim for a benefit under this
part that is payable in accordance with this
subsection.
``(B) Substance use.--Section 1202(a)(2) shall not
preclude the payment of a benefit under this part if
the benefit is otherwise payable in accordance with
this subsection.''.
(b) Retroactive Applicability.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
amendments made by this section shall--
(A) take effect on the date of enactment of this
Act; and
(B) apply to any matter pending, before the Bureau
of Justice Assistance or otherwise, on the date of
enactment of this Act, or filed (consistent with pre-
existing effective dates) or accruing after that date.
(2) Exceptions.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to any action taken by a public safety officer described
in paragraph (3) of section 1201(o) of title I of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (as added by this
Act) that occurred on or after January 1, 2019.
SEC. 4. TECHNICAL FIXES.
(a) Subpoena Power; Employment of Hearing Officers; Authority to
Hold Hearings.--Section 806 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10225) is amended--
(1) in the first sentence--
(A) by striking ``The'' and all that follows
through ``Assistance'' and inserting ``The Assistant
Attorney General, the Bureau of Justice Assistance'';
(B) by striking ``by the Attorney General'';
(C) by striking ``Code)'' and inserting ``Code
(without regard to the days limitation prescribed
therein), but shall, in no event, be understood to be
(or to have the authority of) officers of the United
States)'';
(D) by striking ``such hearing examiners or
administrative law judges'' and inserting ``or
administrative law judges''; and
(E) by striking ``necessary to carry out their
respective powers and duties under this title'' and
inserting the following: ``necessary or convenient to
assist them in carrying out their respective powers and
duties under any law administered by or under the
Office''; and
(2) in the second sentence--
(A) by striking ``The'' and all that follows
through ``Assistance'' and inserting ``The Assistant
Attorney General, the Bureau of Justice Assistance'';
(B) by striking ``or any'' and inserting ``, or
(subject to such limitations as the appointing
authority may, in its sole discretion, impose from time
to time) any'';
(C) by inserting a comma after ``thereby''; and
(D) by striking ``examinations and'' and inserting
``examinations, and''.
(b) Definitions.--Section 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (12)(B), strike the period at the end and
insert a semicolon; and
(3) in paragraph (14), by redesignating the second
subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G).
SEC. 5. GAO REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a
report that details benefits issued pursuant to subsection (o) of
section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281), as added by section 3, and includes any
recommendations to improve that subsection.
Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2022.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.